Rape and sexual assault seriousness discussed

The Collegiate DECA and the Trauma Awareness and Treatment Center met at the Student Center on the Taylorsville Redwood Campus on Friday, April 6 to discuss the issues of date rape, acquaintance rape and assault awareness for their “Date Rape Awareness Expo.” Both what to do should rape occur and preventative measures were discussed.

According to the Trauma Center, “In Utah, a person commits rape when they have sexual intercourse with another person without the victim’s consent.” This can be full intercourse, as well as partial intercourse and can be committed against both men and women.

Rape occurs most often by someone that the victim knows, whether they be in a dating relationship or are only acquaintances.

Scott Dean, vice president of promotions for DECA, said that approximately 7500 students have been victims of date rape. Daterapeawareness.org further provides the data of reported rapes as being 683,000 per year, which boils down to 1.3 per minute.

But that’s only what’s reported. In many cases individuals who have been raped never tell anyone for a myriad of reasons. First is the fear that the attacker may retaliate. Second is because of the social stigma related to it and third is the rejection or the internalization of events, believing that they brought the situation upon themselves. There are a host of other reasons that victims do not report being raped.

Frequently, those that have been raped or assaulted receive more long term damage than what is caused by the event itself. Post-traumatic stress disorder is one major related challenge. With this disorder, memories of the assault result in panic attacks, nightmares, flashbacks, depression, anxiety and emotional numbness as well as difficulty in reconnecting with people or developing and maintaining relationships.

Should rape or assault occur, it’s advised that victims immediately go to the hospital. Prevention, however, is an important goal. There are many ways to defend oneself from the chance of being raped or assaulted, the first being observation. While observing your surroundings, you become more aware of individuals who may be set on assaulting you.

Other advice includes walking or jogging in well-lit areas and not hitchhiking, traveling with others rather than alone, appearing strong and confident, keeping doors locked while driving, sitting near the driver on public transportation, carrying items such as whistles.

Also, calling out the word, “No!” or “Fire!” is more likely to call other people’s attention to the situation than the word, “Rape!” People are trained to respond to ‘fire’ and ‘no’ clearly defines the interaction as being unwanted.

The last suggestion presented was that of taking a self-defense class to provide strategies should you be placed in a rape or assault situation. During the Expo, a martial arts demonstration regarding self-defense was provided by the president of the Martial Arts Club, Shane Green, as well as mixed martial arts instructor Max Weiss.

“Rape is not about sex,” Weiss said. “It’s about control. ‘I have control over you. You do what I tell you to do.'”

Both key demonstrators pointed out that there’s also only a limited time in which to react.

“It only takes seven seconds for somebody to come up and put a choke on you and then you’re out,” Green said. “Seven seconds. So you have to make quick decisions.”

A variety of different moves were displayed, including the use of one’s head to bang up into the attacker’s nose and chin. Kicks not to the knee but to the tendons just to the side of the knee were also recommended, as tendons are easier to tear than shattering the bone itself, especially if you’re wearing heels.

“The idea behind all of these is not overpowering someone, but to use the advantages [against them],” stated one demonstrator.

The aim is not to kill the one attacking you but to incapacitate them enough that you have the chance to run away, preventing the worst from happening.